On Sept. 20, Katy Perry released her seventh studio album, “143,” numbers popularly representing the phrase “I love you.” The album marks an attempt to return to Perry’s old sound, which defined the 2010s pop genre. Through 14 tracks, Perry attempts, with minimal success, to explore the complex nature of love and relationships.
The album opens not with a song about love, as suggested by the title of the album, but an attempt at a feminist anthem. “WOMAN’S WORLD,” Perry’s first single, is meant to talk about the importance of women. However, I found the lyrics to be bland, giving basic reasons why women are important in society. The message feels contrived — although this song is about feminism, the majority of the songs in the album talk exclusively about being in a relationship with a man.
Additionally, though Perry aims to empower women through the song, the message falls flat due to Perry’s producer choice, Dr. Luke, who has previously been accused of sexual, physical and emotional abuse by musical artist Ke$ha. Perry’s ironic producer choice sours the song and its message for me.
The songs that follow face similar problems: upbeat melodies and repetitive lyrics about the joys of being in a relationship. “NIRVANA” is one such song that perfectly captures this theme of monotony. Perry sings, “You make me feel, make me feel so high/You make me feel, make me feel alive.” Uninspired lyrics like this that continue to be repeated are all too common throughout many songs. Like “NIRVANA,” many songs in this section of the album began to blend together with similarly catchy tunes, but overly simplistic lyrics about being in a relationship, leaving me with little interest in listening to the songs again.
These simple lyrics are also especially disappointing when Katy Perry has previously presented much catchier, more exciting songs.
“I would say that her older songs, especially Roar, were very unique songs,” said senior Lola Lewis. “But her newer songs are very repetitive.”
Despite these problems, I don’t think the album was all bad. I appreciated how a few of Perry’s songs feel reminiscent of her fun, upbeat sound during her “Teenage Dream” era. “CRUSH” was a refreshing song with a catchy backing track that I truly found myself enjoying. However, lyrics about having a crush seemed strange, considering Perry is engaged with a 4-year-old daughter. Perry’s backing tracks being so similar to her older sound also acts as a double-edged sword. On one hand, the melodies feel nostalgic, but that familiarity fails to showcase growth as an artist.
To me, Perry’s most interesting songs of the album explore the more complex nature of the trust necessary to keep a relationship alive. “TRUTH,” the penultimate song of the album, provides a look into Perry’s thoughts and adds some much needed depth to the album. “TRUTH” works well because it not only explains how trust is a necessary part of a relationship’s success, but also gives an insight into Perry’s own insecurities. I also enjoyed the slower beat to the song and the more serious tone it took on, showcasing that even if it was just in a few songs, Perry still tried to explore a larger range of emotions in “143.”
“143” suffers as Perry’s unique musical style was noticeably absent from the album.
“It had the potential to be better,” said senior Matthew Grabow. “But I don’t think there was much marketing and hype to it. There was nothing super special [about the album].”
Although Perry attempts to imbue two of her songs with messages of inspiration, it is simply not enough to overcome the majority of this album focused on repetitive surface-level relationship themes. Perry’s messaging and songs fail to stand out to me in an oversaturated genre all about love. Overall, “143” may have catchy tunes, but it disappoints with simplistic lyrics and shallow messaging, earning the album 3 out of 5 stars.
